Daniel 4 - God is Sovereign
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Today we continue the next in the series of messages from the book of Daniel. What encouragement this book has been to me - in particular in regards to my faith in the God of the universe. I want to recap with a reminder of a short passage from each chapter that jumped out at me:
8 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.
Before the going gets tough, we must resolve to keep ourselves pure.
18 He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
When the going gets tough, we must plead for mercy from God with our friends.
17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
When faced with a difficult circumstances, our faith says that God is able and He ultimately will deliver us, but if He doesn’t in the moment, we must praise and worship the one true God!
What great lessons for us so far. Today we’ll look at chapter 4 for Daniel. If you have your Bibles, turn there with me, if not, just follow along on the screen.
Before we read, I would like to give a bit of background of where we are. King Nebuchadnezzar reigned for 43 years. The previous chapters were much earlier on in his reign. It is believed that start of chapter 4 was nearly 30 years after the last chapter. The king is roughly in his 33rd or 34th year of his reign. Daniel is likely in his late 40s to mid 50s at this point. Let’s read starting on verse 1:
1 King Nebuchadnezzar,
To the nations and peoples of every language, who live in all the earth:
May you prosper greatly!
2 It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me.
3 How great are his signs,
how mighty his wonders!
His kingdom is an eternal kingdom;
his dominion endures from generation to generation.
First off, I must point out that this is thought to be the only chapter in scripture written by a pagan or non-believer. So far we’ve seen this king be brought to the point of recognizing who God is through the testimony and witness of 4 Jewish men in his service. Nothing short of miracles have taken place to bring the king to that point. Now 30+ years later, the king is testifying again, but it is also not without a bit of a crazy series of events. This proclamation is made to the ends of the known world. Very few earthly kings or leaders have had the reach this king had.
Here Nebuchadnezzar says that it is his pleasure to tell about the Most High God…is it your pleasure to tell about God? Do you delight in speaking of what He has done for you? It was so for the King and so it should be for us. He says God is great, mighty, eternal and enduring. These statements are in contrast to the kingdom of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar recognizes this…now. But it wasn’t always that way.
4 I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at home in my palace, contented and prosperous. 5 I had a dream that made me afraid. As I was lying in bed, the images and visions that passed through my mind terrified me. 6 So I commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be brought before me to interpret the dream for me. 7 When the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners came, I told them the dream, but they could not interpret it for me. 8 Finally, Daniel came into my presence and I told him the dream. (He is called Belteshazzar, after the name of my god, and the spirit of the holy gods is in him.)
He was content and prosperous and God interrupted that comfort with a dream - a dream that frightened him. He brings that dream to Daniel and notice how he described him - “the spirit of the holy gods is in him.” Even seeing God at work, Nebuchadnezzar still did not fully know God, but he did see something different in Daniel.
9 I said, “Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you, and no mystery is too difficult for you. Here is my dream; interpret it for me. 10 These are the visions I saw while lying in bed: I looked, and there before me stood a tree in the middle of the land. Its height was enormous. 11 The tree grew large and strong and its top touched the sky; it was visible to the ends of the earth. 12 Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit abundant, and on it was food for all. Under it the wild animals found shelter, and the birds lived in its branches; from it every creature was fed.
This tree covered so much land and provided for all that found shelter under it. We’ll soon see that this represents the kingdom of Babylon - a kingdom that was very large and prosperous. More specifically, the tree represented Nebuchadnezzar himself.
13 “In the visions I saw while lying in bed, I looked, and there before me was a holy one, a messenger, coming down from heaven. 14 He called in a loud voice: ‘Cut down the tree and trim off its branches; strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the animals flee from under it and the birds from its branches. 15 But let the stump and its roots, bound with iron and bronze, remain in the ground, in the grass of the field.
“ ‘Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let him live with the animals among the plants of the earth. 16 Let his mind be changed from that of a man and let him be given the mind of an animal, till seven times pass by for him.
Now there is a judgement against this tree and then the reference changes to a man. This man was going to begin to act like and believe that he is an animal and that 7 times or 7 years would pass with him in this condition.
17 “ ‘The decision is announced by messengers, the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of people.’
If there is a theme verse for this chapter, this is it: “...so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms...” We’ll talk more about this at the end of the message time today.
18 “This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, had. Now, Belteshazzar, tell me what it means, for none of the wise men in my kingdom can interpret it for me. But you can, because the spirit of the holy gods is in you.”
19 Then Daniel (also called Belteshazzar) was greatly perplexed for a time, and his thoughts terrified him. So the king said, “Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its meaning alarm you.”
Belteshazzar answered, “My lord, if only the dream applied to your enemies and its meaning to your adversaries!
Nebuchadnezzar is troubled by the dream and he knows who he can count on for the interpretation. He also knows that it is not Daniel, but it is a favor that rests on Daniel that Nebuchadnezzar calls the spirit of the holy gods. He was close, but did not quite understand. Let’s hear what Daniel has to say:
19 Then Daniel (also called Belteshazzar) was greatly perplexed for a time, and his thoughts terrified him. So the king said, “Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its meaning alarm you.”
Belteshazzar answered, “My lord, if only the dream applied to your enemies and its meaning to your adversaries! 20 The tree you saw, which grew large and strong, with its top touching the sky, visible to the whole earth, 21 with beautiful leaves and abundant fruit, providing food for all, giving shelter to the wild animals, and having nesting places in its branches for the birds—22 Your Majesty, you are that tree! You have become great and strong; your greatness has grown until it reaches the sky, and your dominion extends to distant parts of the earth.
23 “Your Majesty saw a holy one, a messenger, coming down from heaven and saying, ‘Cut down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump, bound with iron and bronze, in the grass of the field, while its roots remain in the ground. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven; let him live with the wild animals, until seven times pass by for him.’
Daniel understood that this meant trouble for the king. The king was headed down a path that was going to get very uncomfortable - going from living in a palace as king to believing that he’s an animal eating grass and staying out in the fields at night…a big change. Daniel then tells why:
24 “This is the interpretation, Your Majesty, and this is the decree the Most High has issued against my lord the king: 25 You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like the ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes. 26 The command to leave the stump of the tree with its roots means that your kingdom will be restored to you when you acknowledge that Heaven rules. 27 Therefore, Your Majesty, be pleased to accept my advice: Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. It may be that then your prosperity will continue.”
If the king chooses not to put God in His rightful place, God will humble the king. Daniel cares enough about the king to tell him to do what is right in order to avoid this. Reading this, I get the sense that Daniel was fond of Nebuchadnezzar. Maybe Daniel even recognized the favor he had with the king and in turn the Jewish people had with Nebuchadnezzar. They were treated well and Daniel didn’t want to see him go through this, so he gave him advice that we would be advised to keep today: Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. And of course, the prideful often get more proud before the fall...
28 All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. 29 Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, 30 he said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?”
Famous last words. I am the man! I’ve done all of this by my might and my power and my, my, my...
31 Even as the words were on his lips, a voice came from heaven, “This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you. 32 You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like the ox. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes.”
33 Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from people and ate grass like the ox. His body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.
It doesn’t look like it at first, but this is God’s mercy at work in Nebuchadnezzar’s life. Mercy is not getting what you deserve. Nebuchadnezzar deserved to be struck down right where he stood, but God instead chose to teach a lesson regarding pride. How humbling it must have been to go from living in the palace to eating grass and living like an ox. Certainly Nebuchadnezzar would have acknowledged God right away if he could have. He did with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego after they survived the fire, but God brought him through seven years of eating grass before Nebuchadnezzar would acknowledge God as sovereign. If you saw someone go from king to ox, surely you would have written them off as a lost cause, because that is what our earthly experience is. Once someone goes off the deep end, that’s it. But that is not so with God.
34 At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever.
His dominion is an eternal dominion;
his kingdom endures from generation to generation.
What a miracle again. 7 years in the field and a moment of raising his eyes toward heaven and his sanity was restored.
The word kingdom is a combination of the words king and dominion. Nebuchadnezzar finally recognizes that he is not the king with the biggest dominion. God’s dominion is eternal, from generation to generation.
35 All the peoples of the earth
are regarded as nothing.
He does as he pleases
with the powers of heaven
and the peoples of the earth.
No one can hold back his hand
or say to him: “What have you done?”
I have heard and even questioned myself…”what have you done?” when wondering about what is happening in my life or in the world. Nebuchadnezzar rightly says that no one can question him and no one can control him. God is God and I am not. Thank you Jesus for that.
36 At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before. 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.
Not only was his sanity restored, but his position in the kingdom of Babylon was restored as well, but this time he is raised up with the right attitude. He praises and exalts God. And the reason he gives is that everything he does is right and just. Then his final statement is that God is able to humble the proud.
It is not easy being humbled by force. It is much easier to ask God where there are areas of pride in our life. It’s the difference between preventative maintenance and waiting until something breaks. An oil change is way cheaper than a new engine. Likewise, humbling oneself willingly is way less intense than being humbled.
There will come a day when each one of us will stand to be judged. Either we have humbled ourselves in this life and recognize Jesus as savior and Lord or we will be humbled then as we answer for our sins. Let me encourage you if you have not already…come to Jesus with sin. Confess it and repent/turn away from it. Believe that what Jesus did on the cross and in the resurrection is sufficient to cover the penalty for your sin.
I said we’d come back to verse 17:
17 “ ‘The decision is announced by messengers, the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of people.’
We have an election coming up and I am not sure I remember an election season so divisive. First, I want to encourage you to vote. We are given only so many choices, but we have to choose and honestly, none of the candidates are perfect. They are people and the last I checked, the only perfect person died on a cross, so we have to choose an imperfect person. Let your voice be heard through your vote. Don’t believe the lie that it won’t count. It very well could. Second, God is still sovereign. The same God that allowed Israel to be conquered by Babylon is the same God that humbled him 30+ years later. Trust that God is still on His throne and he is still king.